Scenario 1: The Sales Call

Picture it: You are at your desk working on a project with a looming deadline. Your phone rings and interrupts your flow. The first thing you do is check the Caller ID to see who it is. It’s a number you don't know, so you let the call go to voicemail.

Your sales team’s calls are getting declined.

Your sales team has leads, and their job is to call and close as many as possible. But the new buyer wants to talk only when they are ready. So when your sales team dials a prospect, they either:

Reach voicemail and are dependent on the buyer’s call back

Reach a gatekeeper (a receptionist or assistant) and leave a message, still reliant on the buyer’s response.

Connect with the prospect and try to close or move a deal.

In all instances, the success of the sales call is dependent on the willingness and availability of the prospect to take the call.

Caller ID and the internet changed everything

Caller ID changed the world by giving us the power to choose which calls we answer and which calls we ignore. (This is handy when your mother-in-law calls, but unfortunate for your sales team.)

Then the internet ushered in a new class of buyers who have all the information to research at their fingertips. Buyers go online to research purchasing options, check reviews, and compare prices without ever needing to talk to a salesperson.

Content Marketing Can Make Caller ID a Friend, Not Foe

If we use caller ID to ignore the unknown, we use the internet to investigate the unknown.

Marketing Can’t Bail You Out, But It Can Help

If you feel stuck chasing an unresponsive lead with emails and phone calls, it’s best to cut your losses and say goodbye. But if you still feel the lead is promising, or if you feel compelled to collect a no, use your marketing automation tools to your advantage.

Your marketing automation tool can help you collect more information on the email recipient’s behavior.

Use your tool to send follow-up emails. Set the system to alert you when the email gets opened. Then, you can call right away to try and collect your answer. Since the person just opened your email, they will think you have salesperson ESP.

You can also use your marketing automation tool to monitor how the prospect reacts. If they unsubscribe, they are clearly not interested. But if they continue to download or read your content, they might be open to a sales call down the road.

Content Marketing Helps Leads Pick Up the Phone

When you provide your consumers with more information, you will find the sales calls are different.

The calls are longer as your salesperson becomes more of an advisor and consultant. The number of outgoing calls goes down as the number of incoming calls goes up.

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Bright Orange Thread

We are user-focused digital marketers who deeply understand how users interact with the web and how businesses can better communicate with them. We incorporate audience-centric messaging into strategically designed websites that are search-engine friendly. We attain high rankings and we balance usability with design so visitors quickly and easily find useful information. The result: We help businesses generate new business leads.